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homeowners insurance and dog breeds

We were looking to switch our homeowners insurance to Geico (see if it was cheaper anyway) and they would not even write us a policy because we have a great dane. I had not even considered the possibility of her being restricted, I didn't realize a dane would be on a banned breed list. Every dane I've ever met is just the sweetest thing in the world.......I knew breeds like pitbulls are often a problem, but why a dane? So now I'm worried our current insurance company (nationwide) could potentially drop us (they don't know about her yet). Is a dane being banned normal?

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Originally Posted by Keely

We were looking to switch our homeowners insurance to Geico (see if it was cheaper anyway) and they would not even write us a policy because we have a great dane. I had not even considered the possibility of her being restricted, I didn't realize a dane would be on a banned breed list. Every dane I've ever met is just the sweetest thing in the world.......I knew breeds like pitbulls are often a problem, but why a dane? So now I'm worried our current insurance company (nationwide) could potentially drop us (they don't know about her yet). Is a dane being banned normal?

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Originally Posted by thatkidhugo

Lol, did they give you any reasons for great danes being banned?

nope....they just have this list of dogs they will not insure homes with, no exceptions. We asked about if we got her the CGC certification or if they could meet her themselves, but no. In fact, the guy my husband spoke with on the phone said he can't even get a policy with Geico because of his dogs.

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Every dane I've ever met is just the sweetest thing in the world.......I knew breeds like pitbulls are often a problem, but why a dane?

Same with me and most the 1000s of Pit Bulls I've met. Insurance companies don't care, they are thinking of the liability and risk of certain dogs in their opinion.

[quote]So now I'm worried our current insurance company (nationwide) could potentially drop us (they don't know about her yet). Is a dane being banned normal?[QUOTE]

It is possible if they have a policy against it. You could find out. They might not. Some only have a few breeds and others might have a dozen. I'm not sure if it was normal but I know they were in the "top 10" for aggressive dogs/biters. So that could be why if some are going by that list. Totally crazy but its possible.

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

No breeds are a problem.. Pit Bulls, Great Danes, or otherwise.. owners are. Insurers have just chosen to lump together "dangerous" breeds thanks to the terrible owners and media propaganda that make it that way.

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

I think this is why so many of us who own the dogs that are front runners on the BSL keep telling people "don't think it Can't happen to you". Many insurance companies are extending their list to include a lot of breeds unthought of as "dangerous". There are still insurance companies out there that will cover them. Keep looking.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Gandhi

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Originally Posted by Keely

We were looking to switch our homeowners insurance to Geico (see if it was cheaper anyway) and they would not even write us a policy because we have a great dane. I had not even considered the possibility of her being restricted, I didn't realize a dane would be on a banned breed list. Every dane I've ever met is just the sweetest thing in the world.......I knew breeds like pitbulls are often a problem, but why a dane? So now I'm worried our current insurance company (nationwide) could potentially drop us (they don't know about her yet). Is a dane being banned normal?

Here's our vicious killer.....

Great Danes are on the BSL.

Silly, idiotic and just plain stupid; I know. I just about choked on my tongue when I originally read it.

The fact is, Irish Wolfhounds and Great Danes take the fall because they're the biggest dogs out there. It's a cop-out and a joke in general. Temperament plays second fiddle to the size issue and I dare anyone to say otherwise.

And to whoever has the Great Dane in the top 10 on a biting, aggressive or whatever you want to call it list? I've seen it and it has as much credibility as a roll of toilet paper.

Striking Dane, by the way.

Last edited by Great Dane; 12-23-2008 at 07:17 PM.

"I'd rather spend 8 years with a Great Dane than 15 with any other breed." - UnknownPartying in the Rocky Mountains!

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Originally Posted by MissMutt

No breeds are a problem.. Pit Bulls, Great Danes, or otherwise.. owners are. Insurers have just chosen to lump together "dangerous" breeds thanks to the terrible owners and media propaganda that make it that way.

Sorry for your troubles.

Insurance companies exclude certain breeds because their actuaries believe, rightly or wrongly, insuring these breeds will cost them more then it will earn them.

Yes, it is bad owners that are the problem, but insurance companies don't find it profitable or practical to investigate every applicant.

It has nothing to do with "media propaganda" and everything to do with the large awards paid out to dog bite victims.

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

If you ever need to switch insurance companies, I'm told State Farm does not breed-discriminate, but if you've ever had any kind of dog issue, they won't insure you. Or they make you buy a rider that costs $$$$. But at least they won't just refuse to insure you based on your dog's breed.

"Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man."
Arthur Schopenhauer, The Basis of Morality

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

And to whoever has the Great Dane in the top 10 on a biting, aggressive or whatever you want to call it list? I've seen it and it has as much credibility as a roll of toilet paper.

Um I never said it was credible, I said maybe they go by that list. Stats to show which have the "most bites" and which your more likely to be attacked by. It had Pits as number one and Chows further down the list. I've only known not so many Chows but I was bit by one, several others I know were aggressive also bit or attack (one attacked 2 people before being PTS, including the owners kid). I've come in contact with 1000s of Pits and have yet to be bit/attacked. So yes it isn't credible unless I am some kind of anomaly. It doesn't mean the insurance companies believe that. They don't want to loose money.

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Insurance companies exclude certain breeds because their actuaries believe, rightly or wrongly, insuring these breeds will cost them more then it will earn them.

Yes, it is bad owners that are the problem, but insurance companies don't find it profitable or practical to investigate every applicant.

It has nothing to do with "media propaganda" and everything to do with the large awards paid out to dog bite victims.

It's just math, nothing more.

Well obviously I know that insurance companies are only in it for the profit. Companies care about the final payoff in the end, not insulting a small group along the way. I think I'd need to have a brick as a brain if I didn't know that.

Doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. That's all I'm saying.

And the media does play into it by sensationalizing all of this crap and many times wrongly identifying breeds and/or not telling the entire/correct story behind an attack. Journalists aren't well-versed in dog behavior, last time I checked.

I'm not saying the insurers care whether the stats are right or wrong as long as they think they're weeding out the "bad" dogs. It's not fair. No, life's not fair, but that doesn't mean I can't complain about it (and I don't even own one of these breeds).

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Originally Posted by Willowy

If you ever need to switch insurance companies, I'm told State Farm does not breed-discriminate, but if you've ever had any kind of dog issue, they won't insure you. Or they make you buy a rider that costs $$$$. But at least they won't just refuse to insure you based on your dog's breed.

I've had State Farm for years and years and never been asked about my dogs, what breeds or even if I have any. They are not the cheapest though and are very strict about how many claims you can make, so while I don't recommend them in general, they are good with regard to the dog issue.

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Originally Posted by Great Dane

Great Danes are on the BSL.

Silly, idiotic and just plain stupid; I know. I just about choked on my tongue when I originally read it.

The fact is, Irish Wolfhounds and Great Danes take the fall because they're the biggest dogs out there. It's a cop-out and a joke in general. Temperament plays second fiddle to the size issue and I dare anyone to say otherwise.

And to whoever has the Great Dane in the top 10 on a biting, aggressive or whatever you want to call it list? I've seen it and it has as much credibility as a roll of toilet paper.

Striking Dane, by the way.

well i did a little more research and apparently some insurance companies that do this go by some fatal bite list.....which is so ridiculous, there are plenty of dangerous dogs out there that are not one of these breeds, and of course 99% of all of these dangerous breed dogs are as sweet as any other. Not to mention I'm sure there are more little dogs that are dangerous, their bites just aren't normally fatal. They should go by the individual dog, not the breed.......the most dangerous/aggressive dog I have ever come across was a standard poodle.

And I think if my insurance company asks, I'll say she's a lab mix, she's not papered anyway.

Re: homeowners insurance and dog breeds

Insurance companies exclude certain breeds because their actuaries believe, rightly or wrongly, insuring these breeds will cost them more then it will earn them.

Yes, it is bad owners that are the problem, but insurance companies don't find it profitable or practical to investigate every applicant.

It has nothing to do with "media propaganda" and everything to do with the large awards paid out to dog bite victims.

It's just math, nothing more.

Bingo.

It's fun to demonize the insurance companies, but they have the statistics to back up the policies. They are for-profits companies, but the margins are a lot thinner than you probably imagine and they walk a very fine line between annoying potential customers and losing enough money that they cannot pay claims or stay in business.

Take a look at your auto insurance. Certain types of cars and drivers will cost a lot more to insure and some drivers are uninsurable. If they cannot insure a particular class of drivers profitably, they won't insure them at all.

I do work in insurance, though not with a company that does home-owner's or auto insurance, so I have a perspective that you may chose to take with a grain of salt.